No Right To Remain Silent
by angelicakes
Summary: It was a joke at first, but then it got serious. Deidara decides to get Sasori a Valentine's Day card. It's okay to hide one's true feelings, but when it spills out on accident? There's no weaseling your way out when it jumps out to bite you back.


The pair of identical cloaks, one large and slumped over its owner's hunched shape, the other flowing around its wearer ordinarily as one would expect large clothes to be worn, patrolled the path that winded on top of a meadow's hill leisurely, having accomplished a miniscule task. Sasori and Deidara were their names. Now, some say that in order for the universe to maintain a form of homeostasis, there must be equal balance. Such an example would remain as this: the sun, showing all its splendor and cheer as it gleamed upon the tree leaves and flowers and made Deidara's hair glow with radiance, was in stark contrast to the humpback grump shifting along the path like a moaning, ancient sea turtle. His partner, however, decided to hitch his mood in tune with the sun, so each of his steps were taken with purpose and vigor, his grin drawn long and pleased.

"Hey, Danna…" he began spontaneously, watching a nutty-colored squirrel dart across the path. "What's today?"

His stormy companion did not change his behavior, not even to look at the blond bombshell, as uncaring as the moon's pallid structures. "Meh… the 13th. And don't even begin to ask what month it is, brat, or I'll have your stupid head for my puppet collection."

Deidara dismissed this rude behavior rather calmly. His smile only grew as he flitted a few steps further to gain some ground ahead of Sasori. "Hmmmm, whatever. But guess what tomorrow is?"

"Any idiot could figure that one out," Sasori growled through his monstrous Hiruko, giving a glare not sincere in the least. "14th. My mistake; I forgot you don't have enough fingers to count that high."

Deidara clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth in awe, amused by his associate's display of irrational, unprovoked hostility. "No, Sasori no Danna. I can count _that _high—I have toes too, yanno… un." He emptied out a couple of laughs at his self-degrading remark, for it was all in good humor. Sasori was not impressed. However, the explosive-fanatic continued. "Valentine's Day. The day when you, Sasori-danna, can get stuff. Yeah…"

"Why me in particular?" he gruffly speculated, inching along with the same venomous glare. "You should know I have better things on my agenda than receiving a fucking tulip from the likes of you."

Deidara shook his head briskly, taunting his puppet companion with laughter. "It's roses, un."

"What_ever_, brat," he hissed, dropping his angry eyebrows another degree lower on his face. "Roses, tulips… they both piss me off."

"Not that it should be of any concern to you, Danna, un… you practically live in a hut, you hermit." He snorted. "Besides, it smells like something died in there anyway. You could use a few 'fucking flowers' to freshen up that death cavern. Then you'll smell like roses and not rigamortis-"

"Gods, shut that fat mouth of yours!" he raged, yanking the bomber around his torso and constricting him in a bind with his scorpion tail. They stopped.

Now, Deidara understood what types of precautions to proceed with while dealing with his teammate. Happy pills don't work, so the best method is to squirm your way out of the unfavorable situation. If that doesn't work, do it literally. "Well, then…" Deidara coughed, his cheeks still full of a mischievous, playful grin. "I'm going to get you a card." He wanted to remind Sasori of his strange ways of getting pleasure by smelling like a morgue, but that could never be played over well, even if Sasori was happy enough to be riding rainbows (Hiruko not necessarily included, but hey, it made the visual more entertaining). Never egg him on unless it's been at least one hour since commence, or unless you're feeling slightly suicidal.

"A card? You think a piece of folded cardstock with cheesy words written on it is going to make me feel any better? Think again. It takes a lot to impress me, Deidara." His tail wound around his prey lethally, forcing the younger ninja to cringe.

"H-hey now, Danna… let's be civil, I was only playing around…" he admitted, still leaking a few gasping giggles. "It's nothing to get so worked up about… un."

The gigantic puppet heaved an exasperated sigh, gently releasing the blonde while saying, "You're right. I shouldn't let myself get so worked up over your small matters."

"I'm still getting you a card," Deidara chirped, starting up his pace again. He wanted to annoy the puppeteer, but at the same time, an inner drive was screaming at him the true reasons he was so insistent on giving something to his partner.

He just did. The simple thought of it stirred his mind and wrapped it around lovely ideas, truly a masterpiece of emotions.

This was the reason that, once they stopped at the nearest hospitable town and checked into a nice hotel, Deidara escaped with a humble "I'll be gone a few" and decided to be persistent with his proclamations about the commercial holiday. They were located somewhere along the Wind Country's boundaries, amid a bustling town packed mostly with regular citizens who had homes made of stucco and cacti out in their dusty yards. He walked along the streets and to a commerce location, where a gift store was flooded with plastic red helium-infested balloons and stuffed bears and bags of chocolate and displays of card greetings. He entered pretending he was completely uninterested in smiling at the woman playing with the cash register who was attempting to greet the man-woman-thing.

Deidara began to talk to himself. "Hmm, let's see… cards cards cards…" His blue eyes grazed over the several previews and sorts of cards, considering which offering would be most aggravating, something he could imagine his danna looking at and wrinkling his brow in frustration. At first, he boredly examined the friendly cards, noting all the humorous ones and the simple 'You-mean-so-much-to-me' blabber and the intricately decorated ones (usually, those were meant for mother, but his was long dead so it didn't matter anyways). Then, however, his heart began to pump when he looked into the romantic notes, opening cards in this section and wondering if they accurately depicted his feelings towards Sasori.

It took him minutes to snap out of the spell, finding his actions irrational and a waste of time, so he crawled back over to the friend cards again to search out his pick.

"_If my friends were the chocolates in the box of life, you would have already been unwrapped. Happy Valentines Day." _Deidara sighed. It was an amusing statement, but for some reason, the piece didn't fit appropriately in his puzzle. However, there was a very strange man constantly hovering over him. He wouldn't stop picking up the musical cards that sang songs like _Burnin' Love _and _I Wanna Hold Your Hand _and holding them ridiculously close to Deidara's ear. The S-rank shinobi's face stiffened as his visible cobalt eye widened and cursed to the far left, deftly afraid of this creep who was hitting on him with Hallmark cards. Deidara decided he should choose and choose fast.

After putting that card back and searching some more, looking longingly at the 'love' section, he hastily settled upon the chocolate box card when the tall, older man had leaned in and grazed his hand close to Deidara's, pretending to be browsing cards but making it so obvious that he was actually trying to catch the manicured hand. Deidara had seen horror films less scary than this dude, so he grabbed the card and envelope without giving much attention and fled the scene, caressing the poor thumb that had come so close to molestation.

Considering his choice of valentines, he understood it was more customary to give chocolate. It wouldn't hurt to select an additional present, so Deidara pleasantly bounced over to the display of candy and chose a decorative bag of chocolates packed with delicious filling, about five to a bag… but they looked so delectable with the white zigzags pasted on the top! Before the man could reach him, he paid for his gifts and asked her to seal the card for him, which she complied to without fuss. Once he was given his treasures back all paid for, the terrorist scrambled out of the store without looking like he was afraid. Nobody wanted to be hit on by a guy with dark shades and curly hair, especially when he breathed up windstorms next to your ear and tortured you with the melodies of old love songs.

It was sunset by the time Deidara quietly returned, relieved to find that Sasori was nowhere to be seen. He understood that deep down, Sasori would never desert him, and so the puppeteer would be back momentarily, even if it took a night. He wondered where he was at the moment as he stashed the gifts somewhere safe.

The blonde ventured over to the balcony of their inn, bathed golden in the dying sunlight and warm to the touch as his hands rested over the stucco railing. _This is the country Danna grew up in, come to think of it, _he thought, eyes sucking in the sights of the desert, where palm trees stood tall and erect, brush littered the ground, cacti remained plump and a healthy pale green, the ground was either green with short and uneven grass or dusty desert sand, the sky was a picture-perfect blue, and oh… he enjoyed playing with these satisfying contemplations! The weather shot him into the sky with these cloud 9 moods, especially when he was here with Sasori.

"Mmm… I like it here," he concluded, smiling peacefully and feeling comfortable enough to place both arms over the railing, allowing his eyes to wander over the scenery and follow the people. The sun set that day being supervised by Deidara, and when the sun went to bed, Deidara did too, awaiting his companion's return.

Sasori arrived back to find the hotel room at serenity. He popped out of his Hiruko shell once the puppet was parked in a corner, and the intimidating, deformed man became a dead shell while the young redheaded splendor came to life.

The puppet-man observed his surroundings, from the two clean leather sofas in the room bordering the mahogany table to the shiny, mottled kitchenette counter. Deidara still wasn't here, and he felt a prick of concern. This feeling ended abruptly and malformed into something else when he found his partner in the bedroom as a lump in the bed, long golden hair spread across the pillows as the young man lay on his side, angelic. Smiling, Sasori approached the sleeping form steadily, hands behind his back, and once he stopped at the side of the bed Deidara was facing, he leaned in like a pelican scooping the ocean for fish. The master puppeteer was satisfying his addiction by filling his ears with the melodic sounds of his companion's sleepy, serene breaths.

They were sweet, as though he were riding the puffy substance of dreams too. It had been eons before the last sleep Sasori had slipped into.

It took a long time until Sasori quit his binging. Leaving the sleep-ridden face of Deidara alone with some difficulty, he strained himself to find a new task, unable to forget the notion that Deidara's bed was probably soft and enchantingly warm.

The morning rose, and so did Deidara. He left the bed groggily, yawning in front of his partner and relieved by the wonderful slumber the night had concocted for him. Looking upon Sasori's magnificent, round face, his memory sparked, and a wide grin played across his face. Now the youthful-looking shinobi was suspicious.

"What is it, Deidara? What are you smiling about at this time in the morning?" he asked, impassively watching the blonde scamper into the kitchen with glee in his steps.

"I didn't lie, Danna, un," he reminded, reaching into the depths of the cupboard and retrieving his findings from yesterday. Triumphantly, he whizzed back into the main room and shoved them into Sasori's face. The puppeteer was disgusted, and he drew back a few steps.

"What the hell?" he uttered, raising a brow in annoyance.

"I told you, yeah! A card? What did I say, huh? I did it anyway even though you told me not to, un."

"And chocolates. Well, that was unnecessary." His face twitched momentarily. "I can't eat those."

"Ahw, sure ya can, hmm. I'm already trying my hardest not to rip the bag open myself." He observed them once again, feeling his tongue salivate against his will once more.

"No, you idiot! You're so fucking annoying! Valentines Day… what a ridiculous excuse for a holiday," he grumbled, marching away from the scene and collapsing onto the sofa, slumping and looking respectively grouchy. Deidara followed naturally and hopped onto the seat, crawling over to him on his haunches and presenting the card to him. "Read, un."

"No way in hell am I gonna read your card," he responded, acting more aggravated than necessary. Deidara dropped it gently into his lap and received a nasty snort from his partner, and once he bombed his lap with the chocolates, he leapt backwards off the couch and ran away, laughing hard all the way.

It took a moment of silence for Sasori to be truly afflicted by the card's purpose, how much it meant to him in the depths of his creaky soul to receive such tokens. The last he ever was treated to anything special was back in the day when he still had a caring grandmother beside him, but that was during his childhood and he really disliked remembering such insignificant details. He had to hold the envelope to the light, as though the paper were sacred and important. Despite how he chased the blonde away and rejected his thoughtfulness, he decided he could find a less harmful way to consume chocolate. They did look good, and a flash of his small fingers handling a colorful piece of candy snapped into his conscious for a brief moment.

It was a warm feeling. His soul bathed in it, having been frigid for so long.

When he found the opportunity to actually read over the card Deidara presented to him, he did, when his partner was out of range, going downstairs to retrieve some hot tea. Sasori opened it carefully, as though he were expecting a stream of ribbons to come bursting out, tongue sliding out of his mouth in expectancy. He really did look childish, but it didn't matter.

The card itself, he thought, was beautiful enough. It had a heart attached to the card, woven on intricately with pink and red patterns, sparkling with glitter, but not too much. When he opened it, he read:

_There are secrets I can't say._

_You are the one that paints my smile_

_And puts the stars in my eyes._

_There's so many bubbles that rise in my soul_

_So when I'm with you, my heart grows in size._

_You'll never understand, but..._

_The only reason I believe I have wings_

_Is because you make me fly._

_If I couldn't have you here in my arms_

_I'll come crashing down and I'll die._

_The only rule I have about love_

_Is that it has to be you._

Well, Sasori wasn't completely sure how to react. But Deidara, standing behind him, did. His entire body prickled and froze, eyes widened, and the tea hit the floor, spreading its hot contents all over the ground. "I…" he croaked, shaking with embarrassment and fear. That was definitely not the card he picked up at the gift shop. Sasori became aware of the other's presence in the room and he whirled around on the bar stool, cocoa eyes broad and mildly displaying shock.

"Dei, you're back so-"

"Danna! I didn't, I I I…" his companion bubbled, waving his arms about and twitching his jaw. Sasori cocked his head in uncertainty. When he tried to snatch the card, Sasori pushed him back and held it away protectively, narrowing his eyes and scrutinizing the blonde.

"Jeez, Deidara… whatever your problem is, I bet it's hard to pronounce," he observed, smacking it onto the counter and dropping off the stool to approach his partner, who appeared panicked and shameful. "What's got you in such a rut?"

"That's the…" he stopped when he noticed Sasori's hand on his shoulder. His mouth hushed. He wanted to tell him it was the wrong card, he really did, but something prevented him. Instead, he dropped his arms and his eyes became perplexing blue pools.

"Hmh," Sasori noted, a small, triumphant smile crossing his features and making him especially charming. "You're being quiet."

Deidara unexpectedly broke away and hurried over to the counter in time to observe what his teammate read, and he nearly died of internal shock when it dawned on him that this was the card he had originally wanted to give to him, but couldn't because it was too romantic and needy. _What the hell went wrong? _he panicked, turning back around to face Sasori.

"Why did you give me such a card?" he questioned, coming closer to his partner, shorter than him by over an inch. Deidara's mouth wanted to open, but it refused to do so. "What did you mean by all that stuff? I know you didn't write it, but I certainly wonder why you picked it…" Sasori was dangerously close to popping Deidara's personal bubble, approaching him with prying questions and demands, cornering him into the counter. Deidara's eyes widened and his cheeks flared.

"You…" His hand began to ascend and come close to the younger shinobi's face until the fingertips grazed the supple cheek, and by now, Deidara's mouth could open, but no words could fly out. Oh, Sasori really could feel the ice melting, and he was enjoying it just as much as the soft breathing audible only at night. He felt the urge to grow closer… just a little more, until his face was mere centimeters from the blonde's. Once the distance had come to a close, he confirmed, "I don't get you," then scooped in to capture those lips.

_In my haste, I picked the wrong card. That's what I call divine intervention._

They kissed.


End file.
